ADCS Meeting 16th January 2015

Briefing on Headstart

Viv Griffin

What is Headstart?

Big Lottery aims to equip young people better to prevent mental health problems occurring in the first place, and to build the evidence for service redesign and investment in prevention, based on the following drivers:

•Young people are better able to cope in difficult circumstances and to do well in school and in life•Building resilience helps to prevent the onset of common mental health problems•Learning from different approaches contributes to an evidence base for service re-design and for evidence in prevention

Focus of Headstart

Big Lottery 4 focus areas:

•Experience at school

•Ability to access community services

•Home life and relationships with family

•Their use of digital technology

Who is it aimed at?

Activities are designed to equip 10-14 year olds and their parents, teachers and carers with relevant knowledge, skills and resources to develop coping strategies and abilities that will enable them to deal better with challenging circumstances in their lives, and find legitimate and positive opportunities for discovery and growth as opposed to less desirable outcomes such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, bullying and cyber bullying, substance misuse, crime and involvement with gangs.

Wolverhampton Pilot Phase

HeadStart Wolverhampton six pilot strands: •Strand 1: Engaged•Strand 2: Alternatively Engaged•Strand 3: Disengaged•Strand 4: Parents•Strand 5: Digital Technology•Strand 6: A Place To Go

What are we doing?• Schools based model of resilience building to include resilience

training packages in schools and trained peer mentor buddies and mentors

• Specific programmes for children and young people who are vulnerable, disengaged and not attending school

• Working with parents to raise awareness and resilience skills• Activities and clubs as places to go promoting the safety of young

people, peer support, and self-efficacy • Innovative digital technology strategy to use technology to engage

with children and young people in pilot schools and in identified VCOs using the internet and social media interventions 

• A young people engagement strategy ensures that children and young people are co-producers

Headstart - Timescales

3 Stages

Stage 1 Project initiation (£10,000)(Jan 2014)

Stage 2 Pilot Phase (£500,000) (Aug 2014)

Stage 3 Go Live (£10,000,000) (Dec 2015)

www.headstart.fm

Take a look!!

www.headstart.fm